Improvement in carriages



A s. GRANT.

Patented May 17, 1864.

Wiinesses: A??

THE EcKEnY LlmcsPAPHmu cc. WASHINGTON. u E.

ALT s A. S. GRANT, OF WAUPUN, WISCONSIN.

IMPRQVEMENT YIN CARRI'A'GES.

Specification fornnng part of Letters Patent No. 12 3160, dated May 1 7, 1864. I

To all whom it may concern:

Be it knownthat I, A. S. GRANT, of Wau- {liu'm county of Dodge, State of Wisconsin, ave invented a new and useful Improvement in Carriages; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, ande'xact description thereof, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, in-which- Figure 1 is aside elevation of the body and top of a buggy having my invention applied to it. Fig. 2 is an enlarged side elevation of the seat of a buggy, showing the improved shifting rail in two positions. Fig. '3 is a plan view of Fig. 2, showing the rail secured in place. Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view of one of the arms of the railin.place. 1. r

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures;

The. object of my invention and improvement in attaching shifting tops to their seats is to secure a more firm and rigid fastening, and at the same time to facilitate the removai of the top from its seat and the replacing of the same thereon.

By my invention a single person can remove a top from its seat in a few minutes and with very little labor, as the top does not leave its support until in the very act of liftin g it bodily from the vehicle, whereas shifting tops hitherto constructed require at leasttwo persons the locking, devices which are used to secure to uni'asten and-remove them'irom their seats.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will describe its construction and operation.

.In the accompanying drawings, A represents the seat, and it the back rail, of a buggy, which parts may be constructed in any of the well-known forms and applied to the-body and runninggear in the usual manner.

-Zi b I) represent three eyes of a. circular form, which are'snitably secured to the corners and middle of the back rail, a, as shown in Fig. 3, and project from the. back of thisrail a sufficient distance to receive hooks c c c, which are attached to the back bar of the shifting rail, as will be further described. On each one of the side rails Iapply an oblong slotted plate, d, which,being suitablysecured in place,

projects outward so as to receive thegibs projecting from the. side bars or arms of the shifting rail, and also dogsor wedge-pointed;

hooks, which are also attachedto these arms.

These eyes I) 1) band side slotted plates, d d,

are formed on the iron straps,which are used to 'sti-fien and attach the back rail, a, to the seat A, as shown clearly in Fig. 3.

The extreme ends of the back portion of the rail B are provided with screws and nuts 0 e,

and the arms of this rail are also provided with screws and nuts for the purpose of securing the top to this rail, as shown in Fig. l.

The hooks c c c are formed on the lower edge of the back portion of the shifting rail B in such positions as willallow them to enter their respective eyes b b b and brin the rail B in a central position on the top oi theseatrail a, as shown in Fig. 3. When in' this po sition the gibs g g may be made to enter the slots in plates (1 d by springing the arms on which these gibs areformed toward each other and slipping the gibs down into the slots, after which the retraction of the arms of rail B will force these gibs or notched plates 9 outward and against the outer ends of the slots, thus causing the gibs to embrace the plats d, as shown in Fig. 4. When the railB has thus been secured,.the whole are locked in place by the. pivoted dogs or .hooks as, which are furnished with beveled or wedgepointed keys it, that force the gibs outward in their slots and lock them rigidly in place. The form ofthe notches in the gibfastenings is flaring, so that the wedge-keys t isecure them more .fi'rmly the harder these keys are driven in their places, and thus all rattling or jarring loose of the parts is prevented. The

back 0 of the shifting top is secured to it by the goose-necks h hand V, standard k, shown in Fig. 2.

The hooks c c c on the back rail, 13, a-re made nearly pointed, so that in adjusting the top in place on the seat, these hooks draw very tight in their eyes b, and thus prevent rattling at these points, These hooks are curved in suchmanner that itis necessaryto hold the top I) in an almost horizontal position before the.

ends of these hooks will enter their eyes, after which the top is turned up, brought to the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2,'and fastenedin .fi'ont, as above described.

The shifting rail 'B isvconstructed with" tw plates by springing the arms of the shifting rail toward each other and then swinging'the top back until the hooks t: can be lifted out of their eyes.

From this description it will be seen that I secure the top to the back part of its seat by a detachable hinge-fastening which sup ports the top until it is thrown back, as

above described, and iii-a convenient position I to be lifted up bodily and removed. By this construction and arrangement a single person can easily and with very little labor remove a top from its seat or apply one to its seat, the

hooked fastenings serving the purpose of another person and remaining in their places until in the act of lifting the top off.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- v 1 Combining with a detachable carriage or buggy top and the shifting rail B thereof, hooks and eyes b 43 of such a construction as will join the top to the back rail of the seat and allow of the top or cover being turned down to a convenient position for being de- 'tached, and also of being turned up on its connections when it has been attachedi substant-ially in the manner set forth. i

2. In combination with the subject-matter 'of my firstclaim, the laterally-expanding side fastenings, arranged substantially as de--- scribed.

3. The combination of thehin gin g hooka'ndeye fastenings I) 0, applied to the back of the shifting rail B, with the gib and wedge fasten- 1 loge g id, constructed and operating in the manner described. 4

4. The pivoted wedge-pointed dogs 8 s, in combination with gib-fastenings g g and receiving-loops d d, the same constituting side fastenings for the arms of the shifting rail, substantially as described.

. A. S. GRANT.

Wi tnesses W. WlHoUGHToN,

; O. HsFonn. 

